Hi all! This has been quite an interesting 24 hours. First, my Hubby and I had to cancel our springbreak trip because gas prices are to the roof. Second, last night while we were at the grocery store on the west side of town, what seemed like a giant natural wrecking ball hit this very small town and uprooted trees destroying homes (which didn't include ours, Thank God!) blocking streets and ruining power lines, which leads to the third one. Yes, you guessed it, WE LOST POWER. And since then, 5 million Ameren trucks have driven by back and forth up and down our street... And 25 hours have passed, 80% of the town got their power back except for this small strip of homes (including ours). And the frustrating part is, nobody gets on the phone to tell you what the heck is going on. If only they would say something people won't get so irate. This is the secon im hi happened this year and as much as they charge customers, they better show up and deliver in times such as this.

If you are reading this, I apologize. I just want to scream silently... So let me! Just let me! You don't want to mess with this www-deprived girl. :)

This Week

Hello All! :) This week has been great. I cooked a lot, worked in the craft room some, took tons of pictures, took photography lessons, experimented on a ton of actions and worked in the yard. :) So this week, I got a mini-cheesecake pan. My awesome friend, Sara got it for me. Everything "mini" makes me happy, I easily get enamored by their cuteness! You have to understand, this is the first time, so these things aren't supposed to look close to pretty because I was too excited I pried them all out of the pan. LOL Next time I make them, they should look pretty and I will share the recipe... I promise.

The pan has little bitty removable bottoms. And it makes 12 cute mini cheesecakes. And, here's the end result! :)

John and I also made rainbow cupcakes this week with raspberry swiss meringue buttercream. :)

And then, Mr. Peapers came to wake me up one morning this week to play with my feet.

my sweet Mr. Peapers! :)

And this was how my craft desk looked before the week was over:

This desk doesn't stay clear of clutter very long. 

Hope everyone had a great, colorful week too! :) 

I love my Copic Markers. They are on the high side for price because they are
professional markers. This one in the pic is the very first set I bought,
then all the rest of the 100+ shades and colors I have I had to purchase in 10's.
Blick Arts run a sale on them every so often. 

Chicken and Vegetable Stir-Fry

Hi all! :) Other than my very strong craving for yummy Asian recipes, I have also been wanting to somehow incorporate in-season or readily available vegetables in our meals lately. John and I have taken a liking to our local meat guy and have been eating lots of steaks and grilled burgers. I confess, I could live on porter house steaks alone. The steaks that we buy are so big, I usually forget about the veggie sides!!! So this week, I have been cutting down on the meat and focusing on the vegetables. The Asian cooking that I know involves a lot of it. Growing up, there was not a meal or a snack that didn't involve veggies. My Mom grew a vegetable garden, and we rarely had processed food in our pantry. Back then, I used to get so jealous every time I'd see my friends eat processed meat, or junk food for lunch while I ate stir-fried shrimp with rice or I'd come home to a vegetable and lentil soup for lunch. It used to infuriate me as a kid. lol My aunts, who, then took care of us while both our parents were at work had to literally force food down our throats. Boy, all three of us kids gave them a hard time.

Now that I am grown up, I am so thankful that my parents and everyone else that was involved in my childhood years for forcing us kids to eat vegetables... because we came to like them 10 or 12 years during the process and we realized that eating street food isn't really that cool after one of the kids we knew caught a bad case of the Hepatitis. Since then, we all decided to block all desire for street food or anything that is not made in our home.

I have nothing about Asian buffets because I love them all. It's cheap and the food is filling. And it is a quick way to give me my fix for fried and steamed rice when I need it fast. The only down side is, even the "stir-fried" stuff isn't really stir fried. Most, if not every single dish in the buffet is DEEP FRIED and has been dredged in flour, which doesn't make me happy at all. I am not a big fan of battered anything except if it's fried chicken. :)

So here's something really stir-fried. It's easy too. So if you're looking for something Asian, something quick, and something tasty, this is the recipe for you. :)

Chicken and Vegetable Stir-Fry
Serves 4

1 cup uncooked regular long grain white rice (I used Jasmine Rice, love the flavor and the sweet smell)
1 1/2 cups water
2 Tbsp olive oil or vegetable oil (I used extra virgin olive oil because I had it in hand)
1 lb boneless skinless chicken breast, cut into 1 inch pieces
1 large onion, chopped
2 medium yellow summer squash cut in half lengthwise, then cut crosswise 1/2 inch pieces
1 cup fresh snap peas
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 red bell pepper
a handful of bean sprouts
1/2 cup stir-fry sauce
toasted sesame seeds

1. Cook rice in water.

2. Meanwhile, in a wok, heat 1 Tbsp olive oil over medium high heat. Cook chicken in oil 6-8 minutes, stirring occasionally, until no longer pink in the center. Remove chicken from wok. Cover to keep warm.

I have an electric wok, so that's what I used. I like because i can set it at a certain temperature
and it goes up to desired temps when I start adding stuff into the pan.

3. In the same wok, heat remaining olive oil. Cook onion, squash, peas, bean sprouts, red bell pepper 5 minutes. Stirring occasionally.  Add garlic; cook 1 minute.  Throw in chicken and stir-fry sauce. Cook 2-3 minutes longer or until thoroughly heated.

4. Remove from heat. Serve on top of rice or lo mein noodles. Or serve as is. Check out the photo below. :)

Happy Cooking!

Thankful Thought No. 002

A mother is the truest friend we have, when trials heavy and sudden, fall upon us; 

when adversity takes the place of prosperity; when friends who rejoice with us in our sunshine desert us; 

when trouble thickens around us, still will she cling to us, and endeavor by her kind precepts and counsels to dissipate the clouds of darkness, and cause peace to return to our hearts.  

-Washington Irving

There is no woman on earth I admire more than I do my Mom. :) I guess us kids are biased that way towards our Mothers. They are like real-life guardian angels, who force themselves to learn how to work technology just to get to us and will quit  their jobs to help us take care of our kids... [i am talking about my hypothetical kids right now. lol] and who will give up being in the comfort of her own home just to be close by.  That is my MOM. She is all that and tons more. 

Sometimes, I don't think I say "thank you" enough to her. She always says her children are a God-send. But really, it is the other way around. I don't know what would've become of me and the rest of my brood had we been given another mother... If I didn't have a Mom who fought with me when we went clothes shopping, or boyfriend picking, God only knows where I'd be right now. Yes, my Mom got involved in EVERY SINGLE THING in our lives, especially mine. She was nosy, bossy, sometimes played villain and prayed every day that the boy I like so much would disappear from the face of the earth.  Thank Heavens she did!!!

Even if we fought almost every day while I was growing up, she never stopped loving me. Worse, she loved me even more that she went to the extent of going through my stuff-- i.e. my journal, my books, everything. But still I am glad she did. I used to hate her for doing that but had she not, I don't know if I would be alive right now to write about how evil my Mother used to be. She addressed the problems right as they came and you know what, every issue was resolved before bad things happened. And here I am a testimony of my Mom's resilience and wisdom and successful nosy-ness. She fought through all my evil teenage, growing up years and never did give up for one minute. I brought the woman to tears a million and one times and I have never been so regretful of anything than making my Mom cry because I was young and stupid. 

I am pretty sure she was so relieved to see us all march out of high school and even more when we marched out of college... and when we all started marching out of her house too. LOL 

It was a struggle convincing her that I will be okay when I left home to fly across a giant ocean to be on the other side of the world to be with John. She was funny at the civil registrar's office when we were getting marriage permits, etc. She kept saying to me, "this is no joke... You better know what you are doing is un-breakable and unchangeable, when you do this, it is over." She was more of a nervous wreck than I was. She never felt "okay" about things until five years later. She's still a nervous wreck now, but this time, she has David [my sister's hubby] and John in her mind too and the rest of the fam back home.

the sugar lump riding the kitchenaid like a horse is my nephew Xavier.
My mom is playing granny and Xavier's personal chef at their home in Texas. 

There's one thing I will tell you, everything that this woman touches turns into tasty baked goods! You can trust me on this, I grew up watching her do this trick!!! :) 

Thank you for everything Mom. :) I love you!

Asian Beef Noodle Bowls

Hi all! :) This post is special. I am currently working on my food blog so I am going to be sharing this recipe here. 

Today, I had a really bad craving for anything Asian. What caused it, you ask? Well, a) I AM ASIAN, and I'm partial, I love the Asian Cuisine b) I saw an unopened bag of sesame seeds in the fridge this morning as I was fishing for stuff to make for brunch, the thought of toasted sesame seed made the craving even more torturous  c) I looked through my books to see if there is anything in there that has to do with toasted sesame seeds and found a very simple almost nothing but 5-ingredient recipe from Betty Crocker.

I hope you enjoy it as much as I did! :)

ASIAN BEEF NOODLE BOWLS

Adapted from Betty Crocker

Prep Time: 20 minutes

Start to finish : 20 minutes

Servings: 4

4 oz uncooked thin spaghetti

8 oz fresh gourmet snap peas or sugar snap peas

5 Tbsp vegetable oil

1 lb boneless beef sirloin steak, cut into 1/4 inch strips

1 medium carrot, thinly cut on a bias (about 1/2 cup)

1 red bell pepper 

3 cloves of garlic, chopped 

2 cups napa cabbage/bok choy cut in a bias fairly thin

1/2 cup teriyaki baste and glaze (from 12-oz bottle)

a splash of soy sauce

a splash of oyster sauce

freshly cracked black pepper

4 medium green onions with tops

1. Cook pasta as directed on package. Meanwhile, snip stem ends of snap peas and remove strings, if desired. Drain pasta; Cover to keep warm.

2. In 12-inch nonstick wok or skillet, heat 3 teaspoons of the oil over medium-high heat. Stir-fry beef in  oil 2-3 minutes or until no longer pink. Remove from wok; keep warm.

3. In same wok/skillet, heat remaining 2 teaspoons oil over medium-high heat. Stir-fry peas, carrot, bell  pepper, garlic, napa cabbage in oil for 3-4 minutes

4. Stir in cooked pasta, beef and teriyaki glaze, soy sauce, oyster sauce and black pepper; toss until well  blended.

5. Serve in bowls; sprinkle with green onions and toasted sesame seeds. :)

Happy cooking!

Notes: the sauce for the stir-fry only asked for the teriyaki baste and glaze but since I wanted to make it more complicated and more Asian, I added a splash of everything that spelled Asian that was present in my fridge. I even added a couple splashes of Maggi Savor Classic. This is optional, and didn't include it in the recipe because this ingredient isn't available at the regular grocery store. I have mine shipped to me from San Francisco, California. My Aunt sends them to me in huge amounts. However, if you have an Oriental Market close by, go and check it out and look for Maggi Savor. You can use it on anything. My husband loves it on his steamed or fried rice. He adds it on anything.